Chair bed



S. LINDEN CHAIR BED May 12, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 2, 1962FIGZ jalrrwzmvzswn FIGZ) WWW S. LINDEN May 12, 1964 CHAIR BED 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 2, 1962 Fl 6.6 {MWTOR WW W United StatesPatent 3,132,897 CHAIR BED Samuel Linden, Swampscott, Mass., assignor toBunny Bear, Inc., Everett, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts FiledAug. 2, 1362, Ser. No. 214,340 4 Claims. (Cl. 297-322) The presentinvention relates to a novel baby chair-bed, and more particularly to animproved construction which permits the chair-bed to assume an infinitenumber of positions between a bed position and a seat position.

This application is a continuation in part of my co" pending UnitedStates patent application 142,178 filed October 2, 1961, now abandoned.Baby chair-beds have been constructed to permit the chair-bed to assumeone of several different selected posi tions. Such construction isillustrated in my copending patent application Serial No. 39,145 filedJune 27, 1960. However, in these constructions it is not possible toadjust the back rest and seat to any desired position. Moreover they arenot easily adjusted from one position to another.

The present invention overcomes the foregoing objections and provides animproved chair-bed which can be selectively disposed in an infinitenumber of positions between a bed position and a seat position. Inaddition the present invention has an easily operable means foradjusting and positioning the back rest and seat of the chair-bedindependently of one another. Additionally, the present inventionprovides an improved means for automatically securing and locking theback rest and seat in any one of an infinite number of positions.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention willbe more apparent from a consideration of the present invention whenconsidered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective View of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective View of portions of the presentinvention; 1

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3of FIG. 1, showing the chair-bed in an intermediate reclining position;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view illustrating the chair-bedin a bed position;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view illustrating the chair-bedin a seat position; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentwy cross-sectional detail of a portion of theinvention.

In this specification, bed position means an'arrange ment of theback-rest and seat members in or substantially in a single horizontalplane. Seat position means an arrangement of the back rest and seatmembers in planes at or substantially at right angles to one another.

Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated a chairbed comprising apair of side panels 10 and 11, secured in spaced parallel relation toone another. Body supporting means comprising a back-rest member 12 andseat member 13 are pivotally hinged together at their adjacenttransverse edges along an axis 14 intermediate the panels 12, 13.

The side panels and body supporting means may be suitably formed of anysuitable material, as for example, pressed fiber covered with aconventional cushion pad and fabric covering material. The seat member13 may be provided with a flap 54 at its outer transverse edge whichflap is loosely connected to the edge to provide a protective panelingfor the infants legs.

The side panels 10 and 11 are secured in spaced parallel relation to oneanother by the rearward inverted U-shaped bracket 15 and forwardinverted U-shaped bracket 16.

3,132,897. Patented May 12, 19 4 "ice edges along the axis 14 by a pairof hinges 33.

- adjacent ends.

The back-rest member .12 and seat member 13 comprise the body supportingmeans are in turn supported by support means'best illustrated in'FIGS.2-5. The support means comprises a pair of linkage systems 55 and 56which support respectively the back-rest member 12 and seat member 13.Linkage system 55 is formed with a pair of parallel links 34a, 34b and35a, 35b, with the links 35a, 35b, of the other pair at adjacent ends36, 37. The linkage system 56 is formed of two pairs of parallel links33a, 38b and 39a, 39b, with the links of one pair 38a, 38b,respectively, pivotally engaging the links 39a, 39b of the other pair atadjacent ends 40, 41. A set of five parallel brackets or braces 43, 44,45, 46 and 47 pivotally'support and interengage the various componentsof the linkage systems, the side panels and the body supporting means.One bracket 44 is slightly longer than brackets 43, 45, 46 and 47 andextends transversely across and is secured to the seat member 13 overthe hinge and adjacent the axis line 14. The longer length of bracket 44allows the brackets 43, 45, 46 and 47 to be spaced slightly, preferably/2 inch, from inner surfaces of panels 10 and 11, thus, preventingrubbing of the panels with the seat and back-rest during movement. The

ends of the bracket 44 are dog-cared and are provided extend through andare each mounted on one side panel as seen in FIG. 1. Thus, pivot pinsform a stationary axis spaced adjacent and preferably one inch to theside and one inch below axis 14. The side panels 10 and 11 support andprevent displacement of pins 80 and correspondingly determine the limitof arcuate movement of axis 14 about the axis'formed by the pivot pins80. Arcuate movement of axis 14 about the axis formedby pins 80 allows aslight lowering or raising of the axis 14 which aids in angulardisplacement of back-rest member 12 with respect to seat member 13. Twoof said brackets 43 and 45 engage the links 34a, 34b and 35a, 35b andrespectively 38a, 38b and 39a, 39b, at their corresponding Thesebrackets 43 and 45 are also pro vided with dog-ears at their extremeends with pivot pins projecting through the ends of the aforesaid linksto pivotally secure these links to the brackets. The other two brackets46 and 47 are rigidly secured to the underside of the back-rest member12 and seat member 13, respectively. These brackets are provided withdog-ears at their opposite ends having pivot pins which pivotallyinterengage the remote ends of links 34a, 34b and 38a, 38b respectively;

Motion to pivot the back-rest member 12 and seat 'member 13 rotatablytoward one another and about .axis

14 is transmitted through the linkage systems 55 and 56 independently ofone another by first and second expansible means 60 and 61,respectively. Expansible means 60 comprises an internally threaded tube62 fixed at one end by suitable means to the bracket 43. Such means maycomprise a rivet 64 which secures the tube 60 intermediate the ends ofthe bracket 43. A threaded shaft 66 is adjustably threaded into the tube62. The threaded shaft 66 is provided with a non-threaded section 68,best illustrated in FIG. 6. This nonthreaded section 68 is looselyjournaled in a sleeve 69 which is in turn secured by a clamp 70 and nutarrangement 71 to the cross portion of the rearward inverted U-shapedbracket 15. The

3 interengagement of thenonthreaded section 68 and the sleeve 69 isrelatively loose so as to permit adjustable movement of the threadedshaft from a position shown in solid line to a position shown in dottedlines 75 in FIG. 6. The end of the shaft 66 is provided with a handle 77having an olfset'portion '78 by which the shaft 66 may be rotated foradjustable threading into and out of the tube 62., Expansible means 61is constructed in a similar manner to expansible means 60 except thatthe sleeve 69 is secured to the center portion of the forward U- shapedbracket 16"as illustrated in FIG. 3.

By rotating the handles 77 in expansible means 60, the combinationlength of the threaded shaft 66 and tube 60 may be adjusted. Onexpansion the bracket 43 is moved in the direction of the arrow A. Thistranslates motion through the linkage system 55 causing back-rest 12 tomove downwardly as illustrated by arrow B. A similar expansive movementof expansible means 61 causes movement of bracket 45in the direction ofarrow C and a downward movement of the seat member 13 in the directionof arrow D. Thus, by adjusting the expansible means 60, 61 in a manneras illustrated, the back-rest 12 maybe moved'to any selected positionbetween the positions illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 independently ofmovement of the seat member 13, which may also .be moved over aconsiderable distance greater than that illustrated in FIG. 4 or 5.

It should be noted that expansible means 60 and 61 may be made ofunequal lengths to correspond with the unequal lengths of the back-restmember 12 and seat member 13. This arrangement providesgreater-versatility in the use of the chair-bed. With this arrangementthe longer back-rest 12 and shorter seat member 13 may be moved from aposition substantially illustrated in FIG.

5 to a position in which the longer back-rest member 12.

is horizontal and the seat member 13 is upwardly inclined, thus allowinga child to recline with more of its torso in a horizontal position thanis the case in the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 5.

What is claimed is:

1. A baby chair-bed comprising side panels, means interconnecting saidpanels for maintaining them in spaced relation and comprising a pair ofU-shaped members, a body supporting means disposed between said panelsand lying above said means interconnecting said panels and including aback-rest member and a seat member hinged together along an axisextending transversely of said panel, support means for said back-restand seat members, comprising a pair of linkage systems with each systemhaving one end pivotally engaging the other and said supporting meansadjacent said axis, and each of said systems pivotally engaging one eachof said members at a position remote from said axis, a pair ofexpansible means each mounted on one of said U-shaped members andinterengaged with a diiferent one of said linkage systems intermediatethe ends thereof, said expansibie means adapted to be controlled fromopposite ends of said chair-bed and to be expanded and thereby transmitmovement to said linkage systems for independent movement of each ofsaid members in an infinite number of positions of rotation about saidaxis.

2. A baby chair-bed comprising side panels, means interconnecting saidpanels for maintaining them in spaced relation, a body supporting meansdisposed between said panels and lying above said means interconnectingsaid panels and including a back-rest member and aseat memher hingedtogether along an axis extending transversely of said panel, supportmeans for said back-rest and seat members, comprising a pair of linkagesystems, each system comprising two pairs of parallel links with thelinks of one pair pivotally engaging the links of the other pair atadjacent ends, a set of five parallel brackets for said systems, saidbrackets each having ends pivotally engaging said linkswithone bracketengaging one of said mem-' bers and each link of said systems adjacentsaid axis and pivotably supported by said panels, two of said bracketsengaging said links one in each system at said corresponding adjacentends, and the other two of said brackets, one in each system, engagingsaid links, said other two of said brackets engaging said members at aposition remote from said axis, and means engaging said linkage systemsfor transmitting movement comprising a pair of internally threaded tubesand threaded shafts threaded one into each of said tubes, meansinterengaging each of said tubes with said two of said brackets, sleevemeans rotatably securing said threaded shafts one to each of said meansinterconnecting each of said panels, and handle means engaging saidshafts for rotation thereof, whereby each of said members may be pivotedabout said axis through movement of said linkage systems.

3. A baby chair-bed comprising side panels, means spaced forwardly andrearwardly interconnecting said panels for maintaining them in spacedrelation, a body supporting means disposed between said panels and lyingabove said means interconnecting said panels and including a back-restmember and a seat member hinged together along a first axis extendingtransversely of said panel, support means for said back-rest and seatmembers, comprising a pair of linkage systems with each system havingone end pivotally engaging the other and said supporting means along asecond transverse axis parallel to and closely adjacent said first axis,and each of said systems pivotally engaging one each of said members ata position remote from said axis, a pair of expansible means eachinterengaged with a difierent one of said linkage systems intermediatethe ends thereof, a first one of said pair of expansible means mountedon said forward interconnecting means and a second one of said pair ofexpansible means mounted on said rearward interconnecting means, saidexpansible means extending to opposite ends of said chair-bed andadapted to be controlled and expanded from opposite ends thereby totransmit movement to said linkage systems for independent movement ofeach of said members in an infinite number of positions of rotationabout said second axis. 1

4. A baby chair-bed in accordance with claim 2 wherein said meansinterconnectingsaid panels comprise a pair of inverted U-shaped bracketshaving legs secured one each to said panels.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS GreatBritain .]uly 11, 1940

1. A BABY CHAIR-BED COMPRISING SIDE PANELS, MEANS INTERCONNECTING SAIDPANELS FOR MAINTAINING THEM IN SPACED RELATION AND COMPRISING A PAIR OFU-SHAPED MEMBERS, A BODY SUPPORTING MEANS DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID PANELSAND LYING ABOVE SAID MEANS INTERCONNECTING SAID PANELS AND INCLUDING ABACK-REST MEMBER AND A SEAT MEMBER HINGED TOGETHER ALONG AN AXISEXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF SAID PANEL, SUPPORT MEANS FOR SAID BACK-RESTAND SEAT MEMBERS, COMPRISING A PAIR OF LINKAGE SYSTEMS WITH EACH SYSTEMHAVING ONE END PIVOTALLY ENGAGING THE OTHER AND SAID SUPPORTING MEANSADJACENT SAID AXIS, AND EACH OF SAID SYSTEMS PIVOTALLY ENGAGING ONE EACHOF SAID MEMBERS AT A POSITION REMOTE FROM SAID AXIS, A PAIR OFEXPANSIBLE MEANS EACH MOUNTED ON ONE OF SAID U-SHAPED MEMBERS ANDINTERENGAGED WITH A DIFFERENT ONE OF SAID LINKAGE SYSTEMS INTERMEDIATETHE ENDS THEREOF, SAID EXPANSIBLE MEANS ADAPTED TO BE CONTROLLED FROMOPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID CHAIR-BED AND TO BE EXPANDED AND THEREBY TRANSMITMOVEMENT TO SAID LINKAGE SYSTEMS FOR INDEPENDENT MOVEMENT OF EACH OFSAID MEMBERS IN AN INFINITE NUMBER OF POSITIONS OF ROTATION ABOUT SAIDAXIS.